Playing-card Shuffler

Abstract

A card-deck shuffling assembly including a horizontally disposed vertically vibratory support upon which a deck of cards may be placed and supported on edge for upwise random displacement. The assembly includes structure for intermittently sequentially gripping cards which are upwardly displaced, elevating the gripped cards to a point spaced above the remainder of the deck, releasing the elevated cards and immediately thereafter laterally displacing the released cards in one direction as they fall downwardly toward the support and laterally displacing the cards disposed on the support in the opposite direction.

Description

This invention relates to an apparatus into which a deck of playing cards may be placed for continuous automatic shuffling of the deck of playing cards throughout the period of actuation of the apparatus. A small drawer-type receptacle is provided in which a deck of cards to be shuffled is receivable and the drawer includes an opening in its bottom wall upwardly through which a vertically vibratory pad of the card-shuffling apparatus is received when the drawer-type receptacle is supported in the operative position from the housing of the apparatus. The cards received within the drawer are disposed on edge and are vibrated upwardly at random when the card-shuffling apparatus is actuated. The apparatus includes card gripping means for intermittently sequentially gripping cards which have been upwardly displaced a minimum amount relative to the remainder of the deck of cards and operative to elevate the gripped cards to a point spaced above the remainder of the cards before simultaneously releasing the elevated cards. Immediately thereafter, card-displacing means of the apparatus are actuated in timed sequence with the card-gripping and -elevating means and are operative to laterally displace the elevated cards in one direction and the remainder of the cards in the opposite direction prior to the released cards falling downwardly into horizontal registry with the remainder of the cards. The sequential steps of the card-shuffling apparatus are continuously repeated so long as the card-shuffling apparatus remains actuated.

The main object of this invention is to provide a card-shuffling apparatus which will be operative to fully shuffle a deck of playing cards.

Another object of this invention, in accordance with the immediately preceding object, is to provide a card-shuffling apparatus which will be capable of fully shuffling a deck of playing cards in an automatic manner and without the operator having to initially or sequentially specifically position all or portions of the cards in the deck in a predetermined manner, except for initially placing the deck of cards to be shuffled within the card receiving drawer of the apparatus in an edge upstanding position.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a card-shuffling apparatus which will be capable of thoroughly shuffling a deck of cards in a reasonably short period of time.

A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a card-shuffling apparatus which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and easy to use so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble-free in operation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the card-shuffling apparatus with portions of the housing thereof being broken away to more clearly illustrate the internal components of the shuffler;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the assemblage illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the assemblage illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates the card-shuffling apparatus of the instant invention which includes a housing referred to in general by the reference numeral 12. The housing 12 includes a front wall portion 14 in which a drawer opening 16 is defined and a drawer referred to in general by the reference numeral 18 is provided and includes opposite sidewalls 20 and 22 interconnected by means of a front wall 24 and a rear wall 26. The drawer 18 further includes longitudinally spaced transversely extending upstanding partitions 28 and 30 defining a card-receiving pocket 32 therebetween and the upper marginal edge portions of the partitions 28 and 30 are upwardly divergent as at 34 and 36, respectively. The drawer 18 further includes front and rear bottom wall sections 38 and 40 between which the drawer 18 includes longitudinally extending opposite side partial bottom wall sections 42 and 44 defining an opening 46. The partial bottom wall sections 42 and 44 may actually comprise inturned flange portions of the portions of the sidewalls 20 and 22 disposed between the partitions 28 and 30 and the drawer 18 is receivable within the opening 16 for support in the position illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawings and is also endwise manually removable from the opening 16.

An electric motor and vibrator pad assembly referred to in general by the reference numeral 48 is supported within the housing 12 and includes a vertically vibratory support pad portion 50 which projects slightly upwardly through the opening 46 and defines a horizontal support for a deck of cards disposed on edge within the drawer 18. The bottom wall sections 42 and 44 are spaced apart a distance slightly less than the width of the deck of cards 52 and are adapted to have the lower opposite side marginal edge portions of the cards 52 rest thereon when the drawer 18 is removed from the housing 12. However, inasmuch as the vibratory support pad portion 50 is received upwardly through the opening 46, when the drawer 18 is disposed within the housing, the cards 52 within the drawer 18 are supported directly from the vibratory support pad portion 50.

It will be noted from FIG. 2 of the drawings that the opening 16 is slightly greater in vertical extent than the sidewalls 20 and 22 of the drawer 18 and that the drawer 18 includes a pair of longitudinally spaced and transversely extending cam surfaces 54 and 56 disposed below the bottom wall sections 38 and 40. The cam surfaces 54 and 56 coact with openings 58 and 60 formed in the housing 12 to effect elevation of the drawer 18 relative to the vibratory support pad portion 50 as the drawer 18 is initially moved outwardly of the opening 16. The cam surfaces 54 and 56 and the openings 58 and 60 therefore coact to elevate the drawer 18 sufficiently to raise the bottom wall sections 42 and 44 to an elevation above the vibratory support pad portion 50 whereby as the drawer 18 is initially withdrawn from the opening 16 the cards 52 will be engaged by and supported from the bottom wall sections 42 and 44.

The assembly 48 includes a rotary output shaft 62 upon which a spur gear 64 and a bevel gear 66 are mounted. An upstanding shaft 68 is journaled from the housing 12 and has large and small bevel gears 70 and 72 supported from its lower and upper ends. The large bevel gear 70 is meshed with the gear 66 and the bevel gear 72 is meshed with a bevel gear 74 carried by a horizontal shaft 76 also journaled from the housing 12.

Two pairs of upper and lower shafts 78 and 80 are journaled from the housing 12 and each pair of shafts 78 and 80 includes corresponding opposite end aligned sprocket wheels 82. Further, each of the shafts 80 includes a spur gear 84.

A further pair of support shafts 86 and 88 are journaled from the housing 12 and have large diameter gear wheels 90 and 92 respectively, mounted thereon. The gear wheels 90 and 92 are meshed with the spur gear 64 and the shaft 86 includes a small gear wheel 94 while the shaft 88 includes a small gear wheel 96.

A further shaft 98 is journaled from the housing 12 and has a gear wheel 100 mounted thereon. The gear wheel 94 is meshed with the right-hand gear 84 of FIG. 3 and the gear wheel 96 is meshed with the gear wheel 100 which is in turn meshed with the left-hand gear 84 of FIG. 3. Accordingly, it may be seen that the shafts 80 are driven from the output shaft 62 in opposite directions and at the same speed.

Endless flexible chains 102 are trained about each pair of aligned sprocket wheels 82 and each pair of corresponding chains 102 has an elongated bar 104 connected therebetween which has a resilient covering 106. In addition, the opposing adjacent reaches 108 of the chains 102 are backed by stationary guides 110 supported from the housing 12 and the bars 104 are positioned on their respective chains 102 so as to horizontally oppose each other. Further, the upper marginal edge portions of those portions of the sidewalls 20 and 22 disposed between the partitions 28 and 30 are vertically shortened as at 20' and 22' to provide clearance for the bars 104 and thus it may be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings that the bars 104 are operative to engage and elevate the cards 52 vibrated upwardly beyond the phantom line position 110 illustrated in FIG. 3 during operation of the assembly 48 which causes the right-hand chain 102 to orbit in a clockwise direction and the left-hand chain 102 to orbit in a counterclockwise direction, see FIG. 3.

A pair of shafts 112 and 114 are journaled from the housing 12 and include large gear wheels 116 and 118. The shaft 76 includes a spur gear 120 which is meshed with the gear wheel 116 and the gear wheel 116 is meshed with the gear wheel 118.

A pair of support shafts 120 and 122 are supported from the housing 12 and have a pair of depending paddle panels 124 and 126 oscillatably supported thereon. The paddle panels 124 and 126 include cam follower arm portions 128 and 130, respectively, and a pair of cam members 132 and 134 are mounted on the shafts 112 and 114 and include cam lobes 136 and 138. In addition, the shafts 112 and 114 include cam members 140 and 142 including radially outwardly opening cam recesses 144 and 146.

A further pair of support shafts 148 and 150 are supported from the housing 112 and a pair of downwardly convergent displacement arms 152 and 154 are oscillatably supported from the shafts 148 and 150 and include cam follower portions 156 and 158, respectively.

It may be seen from FIG. 2 of the drawings that the cam follower arms 128 and 130 are engaged with the cam lobes 132 and 134 for displacement radially outwardly of the shafts 112 and 114 by means of the cam lobes 136 and 138. Further, the cam followers 156 and 158 are engaged with the cam members 140 and 142 for intermittent reception within the cam recesses 144 and 146. It may further be observed from FIG. 3 of the drawings that the cam lobe 136 and cam recess 144 supported from the shaft 112 are in 180.degree. out-of-phase relationship with the cam lobe 138 and cam recess 146.

With attention now invited more specifically to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings it may be seen that the shaft 114 also supports a contact disc 160 constructed of dielectric material and including a pair of diametrically opposite arcuate and conductive circumferentially extending contact-bridging elements 162 and 164. An arcuate dielectric brush 166 is positioned in radial registry with the contact disc 160 and includes a pair of opposite end contacts 168 and 170 constructed of conductive material. The contacts 168 and 170 are interposed in the electrical circuit supplying current to the assembly 48 with the contacts 168 and 170 connected in series within that circuit. Accordingly, the assembly 48 may be connected to a suitable source of electrical potential through a main control on-and-off switch bypass by means of the switch defined by the disc 160 and brush 166 whereby even though the main on-off switch is positioned in the off position the assembly 48 will remain electrically actuated until such time as the disc 160 is rotated to a position wherein one of the contact bridging elements 162 and 164 is not bridging the contacts 168 and 170.

In operation, the card-shuffling assembly or apparatus 10 may be utilized by first withdrawing the drawer 18 and placing a deck of the cards 52 within the drawer in the manner illustrated in FIG. 2 of the drawings. Then, the drawer 18 is reinserted in the opening 16 until the cam members 54 and 56 drop through the openings 58 and 60. Then, the main on-off switch may be closed in order to actuate the assembly 48 at which time the support pad portion 50 will be vertically reciprocated and upwardly displace some of the cards 52 in a vibratory manner to positions above the phantom line position 110 illustrated in FIG. 3 of the drawings. It is to be understood that at least some of the cards 52 will be vibrated to upper positions at all times.

Upon actuation of the assembly 48, the output shaft 62 rotates and the various gears and wheels are caused to turn. As the bars 104 reach the positions thereof illustrated in solid lines in FIG. 3 of the drawings while moving in the directions indicated by the arrows immediately thereabove, the bars 104 will engage those cards 52 elevated above the phantom line position 110 in FIG. 3 and elevate the engaged cards 52 to the positions thereof illustrated in phantom lines as at 174 in FIG. 3 of the drawings. Continued movement of the bars 104 beyond this point will cause the bars 104 to move away from each other and to thus release the cards 52 elevated by the bars 104 for free falling downwardly toward the drawer 18. As the elevated cards 52 are released, one of the cam lobes 136 and 138 engages the corresponding cam follower arm 128 or 130 to cause the corresponding paddle to swing toward the other paddle and to engage the elevated cards so as to displace the latter in the same direction. At the same time, the corresponding arm of the arms 152 and 154 has its cam follower received within the corresponding recess so that the arm will engage and displace the cards 52 remaining within the drawer 18 in the opposite direction. After the cards 52 within the drawer have been laterally displaced, the arm which displaced the cards within the drawer is quickly withdrawn so as to be moved out of position which might interfere with the falling previously elevated cards 52. In this manner, the elevated cards are displaced in one direction as soon as they are released and the cards 52 remaining in the drawer are simultaneously displaced in the opposite direction. Further, continued operation of the assembly 48 will subsequently cause additional cards 52 to be elevated and for the elevated cards to be displaced in the opposite direction and for the cards then remaining in the drawer 18 to be displaced in the direction in which the originally elevated cards were displaced. Thus, the cards 52 within the drawer may be thoroughly shuffled and it is to be noted that the assembly 48 may be retained in operation for any duration of time desired.

When it has been deemed that the cards 52 have been properly shuffled, the main on-off switch may be moved to the off position. However, if the contacts 168 and 170 are bridged by one of the contact bridging elements 162 and 164, electrical actuation of the assembly 48 is maintained until the contacts 168 and 170 are no longer bridged by one of the elements 162 and 164. Of course, it is to be noted that as soon as the contacts 168 and 170 are not bridged by one of the elements 162 and 164, the elevated cards will have just previously been dropped and displaced in the corresponding direction while the cards remaining in the drawer 18 will have been displaced in the opposite direction. In this manner, it is impossible to terminate operation of the assembly 48 with any of the cards retained in elevated position by the bars 104 and with either of the arms 152 and 154 blocking withdrawal of the drawer 18 from the opening 16.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

What I claim as new is as follows:

1. A playing-card shuffler including a vertically vibrating horizontal support upon which a deck of cards may be placed and supported on edge for random upward displacement therefrom, said shuffler further including means for intermittently sequentially gripping the cards which are displaced upwardly from said support at least a minimum amount, elevating the gripped cards upwardly above the remainder of the deck, releasing the elevated cards and immediately thereafter laterally displacing the released cards in one direction as they fall downwardly toward the support and laterally displacing the cards disposed on and vibrated above said support in the opposite direction.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said means includes first means operative to grip, elevate and release said upwardly displaced cards and second and third means operative to laterally displace the released cards and the cards disposed on and vibrated upwardly from the support, respectively.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said vibrating horizontal support is driven by a motor, said first, second and third means also being driven by said motor.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said means operative to grip, elevate and release said upwardly displaced cards includes pairs of opposing upstanding reaches of endless flexible members, each endless member being trained about a pair of vertically spaced journaled wheels, and each pair of endless members being interconnected at corresponding points therealong by means of a generally horizontal elongated bar extending therebetween.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein said shuffler includes a tray removably supported therefrom for supporting said deck of cards therein, said tray including opposite side marginal bottom wall portions defining an opening therebetween upwardly through which said support is receivable when said tray is supported from said shuffler, said bottom wall portions being spaced apart a distance less than the length of the lower marginal edge portions of a standard deck of cards standing on edge.

6. The combination of claim 1 wherein said means includes means operative to alternately reverse the directions in which said released cards and said cards disposed on and vibrated above said support are laterally displaced.

7. The combination of claim 1 wherein said means includes first means operative to grip, elevate and release said upwardly displaced cards and second and third means operative to laterally displace the released cards and the cards disposed on and vibrated upwardly from the support, respectively, said vibrating horizontal support being driven by a motor, said first, second and third means also being driven by said motor, and control means for said motor actuatable to initiate and terminate operation of said motor, said control means including means, operative, when said control means is actuated so as to terminate operation of said motor means, to maintain said motor means in operation until the first-mentioned means has completed its full series of operations and to then terminate operation of said motor means prior to the first-mentioned means initiating the next full series of operations thereof.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said shuffler includes a tray removably supported therefrom for supporting said deck of cards therein, said tray including opposite side marginal bottom wall portions defining an opening therebetween upwardly through which said support is receivable when said tray is supported from said shuffler, said bottom wall portions being spaced apart a distance less than the length of the lower marginal edge portions of a standard deck of cards standing on edge.

9. The combination of claim 8 wherein the first mentioned means includes means operative to alternately reverse the directions in which said released cards and said cards disposed on and vibrated above said support are laterally displaced.